From the Washington Post: In India, Marking the Paper Trail of History.
In the walled quarters of the old city, a Sanskrit language scholar walks purposefully along the packed, narrow and twisting alleyways, jostling past rows of jewelry shoppers, cycle rickshaws, bullock carts and beggars.
When he comes upon an old temple with an ornately carved doorway, he stops, sweating profusely in the sweltering sun.
"Do you have any ancient handwritten manuscripts here?" Dilipkumar Rana, the scholar, asks in a whisper. The stunned temple manager nods. "The government is doing a survey of old manuscripts," Rana says.
"But I have very few left now," says Jaipal Jain, the 61-year-old temple manager. "I threw many old manuscripts into the river last year."
"Why?" Rana asks anxiously.
"I had put them in the attic. Last year during the monsoon, the ceiling leaked. And the water destroyed many of the manuscripts," Jain says, sighing. "White ants attacked some others."
And so it goes, as India's 30,000 manuscript hunters fan out across the country, seeking the nation's heritage in old temples, madrassas, mosques, monasteries, libraries and homes. [continue]
(Link found here at Cronaca.)
Related:
National Mission for Manuscripts - namani.nic.in